J.R. Todd, DHL GR Supra Funny Car
2025 NHRA Sonoma Nationals Recap: Qualified No. 11; lost to Hunter Green.
J.R. Todd Career Stats: 347 events, 22 wins, 28 runners-up, 379 round wins, 16 No. 1 qualifiers.
Current Points Position: 3
Pre-Race Notes:
Pre-Race Quotes:
“There’s been some ups and downs for sure. For me, when I moved over to the Funny Car in 2017, I felt like that was my best opportunity to compete for a championship, just knowing what Del (Worsham) and those guys had done in 2015. It took me a little while to get the hang of the Funny Car thing; I’m still working on that, but it worked out pretty well for us in 2018.
“Then, the dragsters had some lean years, so they brought in AJ (Doug Kalitta’s Crew Chief Alan Johnson), but it took a couple years to get Doug’s car back up to speed. Then (Crew Chief) Brian Husen went over to Shawn’s car. All these things took time, and I feel that’s where our DHL Funny Car is now.
“We brought (Crew Chief) Dickie Venables in last season, and we thought we would hit the ground running and have success. For whatever reason, it didn’t work out that way, but we made more changes this off season with different cars, different parts and bringing (Crew Chief) Todd Smith back to work with Dickie. I feel like we’re definitely in that window where the dragsters were. They’re making it look easy right now; where we are with the Funny Car, it’s definitely not easy, but I feel like were on the right path to success like they were.
“Back in pre-season testing, we made some really fast runs like 336 and 337 (mph). Dickie and Todd said if we get to the right conditions later in the year, it could run 340 no problem so I’m thinking maybe we can creep up on that when we get to Sonoma. Either way, I’m just glad that we’re in the position we are going to the later rounds most of the time. The consistency is coming around, and that’s something we’ve been lacking. I think that reflects on our points position; we’re within range of the points lead, and that’s where you want to be at this time of the year. It would be great to make a move with a win this weekend to stay in the hunt for that regular season championship.”
Todd Photo Courtesy: Kalitta Motorsports
For J.R. Todd’s 2026 race-by-race results, please click here.
TV Schedule (All times eastern):
The post J.R. Todd Patient as DHL Team Evolves first appeared on Team Kalitta Motorsports.
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2025 NHRA Sonoma Nationals Recap: Qualified No. 11; lost to Hunter Green.
J.R. Todd Career Stats: 347 events, 22 wins, 28 runners-up, 379 round wins, 16 No. 1 qualifiers.
Current Points Position: 3
Pre-Race Notes:
- J.R. Todd enters the Denso NHRA Sonoma Nationals in third place in the NHRA Funny Car point standings entering the first race of the second half of the season and the final four races of the regular season. He trails second place Matt Hagan by 12 points and leads fourth-place Jack Beckman by five points.
- Todd has a strong history at Sonoma Raceway. He captured his fourth-career win at the wine country racetrack in 2023, and he has one No. 1qualifier.
- Despite the quarterfinal loss, Todd had a consistent weekend in Norwalk, Ohio at the last race. The DHL GR Supra team made five excellent runs before missing the tuneup in the quarterfinals, and the team stayed in Norwalk to test on Monday, June 29.
- Todd advanced to at least the semifinals at five of the 10 races this season. He has one runner-up finish and four semifinal showings.
- Todd is the 2018 NHRA Funny Car Champion and has 22 race wins in his career.
Pre-Race Quotes:
“There’s been some ups and downs for sure. For me, when I moved over to the Funny Car in 2017, I felt like that was my best opportunity to compete for a championship, just knowing what Del (Worsham) and those guys had done in 2015. It took me a little while to get the hang of the Funny Car thing; I’m still working on that, but it worked out pretty well for us in 2018.
“Then, the dragsters had some lean years, so they brought in AJ (Doug Kalitta’s Crew Chief Alan Johnson), but it took a couple years to get Doug’s car back up to speed. Then (Crew Chief) Brian Husen went over to Shawn’s car. All these things took time, and I feel that’s where our DHL Funny Car is now.
“We brought (Crew Chief) Dickie Venables in last season, and we thought we would hit the ground running and have success. For whatever reason, it didn’t work out that way, but we made more changes this off season with different cars, different parts and bringing (Crew Chief) Todd Smith back to work with Dickie. I feel like we’re definitely in that window where the dragsters were. They’re making it look easy right now; where we are with the Funny Car, it’s definitely not easy, but I feel like were on the right path to success like they were.
“Back in pre-season testing, we made some really fast runs like 336 and 337 (mph). Dickie and Todd said if we get to the right conditions later in the year, it could run 340 no problem so I’m thinking maybe we can creep up on that when we get to Sonoma. Either way, I’m just glad that we’re in the position we are going to the later rounds most of the time. The consistency is coming around, and that’s something we’ve been lacking. I think that reflects on our points position; we’re within range of the points lead, and that’s where you want to be at this time of the year. It would be great to make a move with a win this weekend to stay in the hunt for that regular season championship.”
Todd Photo Courtesy: Kalitta Motorsports
For J.R. Todd’s 2026 race-by-race results, please click here.
TV Schedule (All times eastern):
- Qualifying Show: 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Sunday, July 19 on FS1
- Finals: 10 p.m.-1 a.m. Sunday, July 19 on FS1
The post J.R. Todd Patient as DHL Team Evolves first appeared on Team Kalitta Motorsports.
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